Lisa Genova: How We Remember and Why We Forget

OPENING KEYNOTE
Wednesday, April 30, 2025
7:00 p.m. - 8:45 p.m.

We tend to feel stress and shame whenever we forget names, where we left our phone, or overlook doing one of the many tasks that make up our day. Yet most of our forgetting is completely normal and is part of our brain’s factory settings. Drawing from her bestselling non-fiction book Remember, neuroscientist Lisa Genova explores the intricacies of how we remember, why we forget and what we can do to protect our memories. She will highlight the correlations between stress, productivity and performance and what seniors’ care organizations can do to support the minds of their teams to boost their success. 

Lisa Genova is the New York Times bestselling author of Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting as well as of multiple novels, including Still Alice, about a middle-aged professor with Alzheimer’s disease and her latest, More or Less Maddy. A neuroscientist and multiple award winner, she writes stories equally inspired by neurological conditions and our shared human experience. She was named one of the U.S. Top 50 Influencers in Aging by Next Avenue and has been a frequent speaker on topics related to memory on television, in documentary films, TED talks and speaker series.  

Sponsored By

Can AI Really Care? The Risks You Need to Know

Claudia Del Pozo, Founder and CEO, EON Institute 

FRIDAY PLENARY BREAKFAST MAIN SESSION
Friday, May 2, 2025
7:30 a.m. - 8:45 a.m. 

Feeling overwhelmed by the hype surrounding artificial intelligence? Wondering what this technological innovation means for seniors’ care?  Technology expert Claudia Del Pozo will give a non-technical introduction to AI and illustrate its potential risks for healthcare through examples from around the world. Learn why it’s possible to go from good intentions to catastrophic results and hear about guiding principles and recommendations to get you thinking about the ethical implications of AI.

Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders in Long-Term Care 

MODERATED PANEL DISCUSSION
Thursday, May 1, 2025
8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

Mental health conditions are increasingly common among long-term care residents in Canada,
where approximately 40% of residents have a mental health disorder and a psychiatric need. In
Ontario, among mental health conditions, major depression and anxiety disorders are common.
Moreover, the prevalence of serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder,
are more common in long-term care settings compared to other sectors, and this prevalence in
LTC is continuing to increase.

This increase in the prevalence of residents with mental health and substance use disorders in LTC settings is multifactorial. There is a lack of early intervention and more
appropriate options in the community to support these individuals, such as assisted living,
supportive housing, and group homes linked to community services. This lack of community
supports and services has made long-term care settings a “catch-all."  However, while the
sector has always been supportive of the needs of acute care, long-term care was not built nor
is it funded to appropriately support residents with complex mental health issues in its current
capacity.

Given the changing resident profile across Ontario, these issues necessitate a focused, multi-faceted approach. This plenary session gives experts the opportunity to discuss this growing trend in LTC in Ontario today, and will help provide insights into how, working together, the healthcare
system can ensure seniors with complex mental health and substance use disorders can get care in
the right place, when they need it.